Flexible hollow plastic dispensing container



A. SUTTER March 31, 1964 FLEXIBLE HOLLOW PLASTIC DISPENSING CONTAINER Filed Dec. 13, 1960 United States Patent 3,127,68 FLEXRLE HOLLOW PLASTIC DISPENSING CONTAINER Arturo Sutter, Viale Cernhrano 2, Genoa, Italy Filed Dec. 13, 196i), Ser. No. 75,519 1 Claim. (til. 222-209) This invention refers to a one-piece resilient molded plastic container which is provided with a hollow handoperated pumping grip, the grip being provided in the one-piece body construction with a space through the body and through which the fingers of the hand embrace the sides of the gripping portion. The plastic container of the invention provides an easy and readily controlled outflow of the liquid product which is stored in and dispensed from the container by reason of the common fluid communication between the hollow hand gripping portion and the hollow body portion.

In the field of the liquid and paste cleaning products used to clean walls and floors, such as for the commercially available liquid wax and cleaning and polishing liquid products, there is a real need in the market for a plastic dispensing container of predetermined capacity which may be easily kept in one hand and operated manually to get an easy outflow of line Wetting spray of the product for its cleaning use. Some dispensing containers are available on the market, but these are not available in any size which does not justify the abolition of the presently used metal containers.

In accordance with the present invention there is provided a novel one-piece dispensing container especially adapted for packaging and dispensing the liquid wax and similar cleaning and polishing products meeting the necessary requirements for dispensing controlled amounts of liquid to meet the needs of the up-to-date cleaning systems, and, moreover, providing several practical advantages which are the result of the relatively large size of the container which would not ordinarily be deemed to be a squeeze bottle container.

in accordance with the present invention, the new container is made of deformable plastic material and has incorporated an integral side tubular hand-grip which is connected with the inside body of the container itself, so that both the liquid contents and the air over the liquid contents may pass through this passageway formed by the grip.

Liquid passes freely into and out of the hand gripping portion at the lower portion of the body and the upper portion of the hand grip respectively. The hollow hand gripping portion lies below the nozzle and neck portion of the container and is located just below the lower end of a common straight wall of the container between the grip and the neck. The axis of the neck lies within the body portion and extends substantially parallel to the wall. The common wall and axis relation just described permits tilting the container along this common wall to direct the flow of liquid dispensed solely by the hydro static pressure resulting from the hand grip squeezing action.

Due to the fact that the novel container unit is made of thin flexible molded plastic material, pressing of the grip by the hand causes an inside pressure to be created to create a dispensing outflow of the liquid product through the nozzle outlet provided on the neck of the flask. It is thereby possible to handle the flaskeven if it has a large capacity-and to dispense the liquid contents by fine Wetting spray action through engaging one hand only.

In the attached drawing two embodiments of the invention are shown.

FIGS. 1 and 1a are a side elevation view and the trans- 3,127,068 Patented Mar. 31, 1964 verse section view along line A-A, respectively, of a cylindrical flask provided with the pumping grip, according to the invention;

FIGS. 2 and 2a are a side elevation view and the transverse section along line B-B, respectively, of a flat shaped flask.

FIG. 3 is a view of a flask, with grip as in FIG. 1 according to the invention and the flask is shown as kept in the hand at its operating position.

As shown in FIGS. 1-3 of the drawing the body of the flask 1, which could be any shape, is shown as cylindrical (FIG. 1), as a flat rectangle resembling a usual tin (FIG. 2), etc. and is provided at its side with a hollow grip 2 which is parallel to the body itself in one piece with the flask and inside communicating therewith. Consequently, the liquid inside the flask fills the grip too. The flask 1, together with the grip 2, is preferably made of polyethylene or polyvinyl chloride, and the flask grip combination may be made by injection molding or by the vacuum forming in two halves or several parts which are then connected by thermal welding, glueing, etc.

The neck 3 of the flask, in FIGS. 1-3 as shown, is forwardly inclined to ease the outflow of the product, but of course the neck could be provided in another suitable position at the top of the flask. To seal the neck and stopper of the flask there is provided a dispensing plug 4 with centrally protruding round tip 5. The dispensing plug 4 is closed by a stopper 6 which is inserted about the tip 5. The plug 4 is axially bored at its central portion to provide a passageway passing through the plug and having a predetermined diameter to control the quantity of outflow Wanted. Inside the plug 4 a connection for a bleeder tube (not shown) can be provided so as to provide a product-air mixture in the usual manner.

The grip 2 may be structurally modified to improve its pumping operation and to improve its appearance at its location in the side part or in the front of the flask by shaping the grip with transverse corrugations suitable to fit the fingers of the hand. The body of the flask is provided with panels so that it can be printed with any description either in ink or relief. In the illustrations shown a label may be placed about the ring at the neck or at the base of the flask. To serve as a seat for the label on the body of the flask, a lowered seat 7 is provided and is adapted to aflix the label.

The operation of the unit is very simple. When handling the hollow grip of the flask by hand the grip has axis in either a horizontal position or in a slightly inclined position as shown in the FIG. 3. The flow outlet is directed towards the surface where the product is to be spread. When squeezing the grip by the same hand that one holds the container at the integral grip portion thereof, pressure is exerted within the grip hollow on the air and liquid therein and according to the liquid level in the flask the volume of the air above the liquid may be strongly compressed or weakly compressed by hand. Inside the body 1 as a result of squeezing the grip there is consequently a rise of the air pressure, so that the liquid product is pushed out from the outflow nozzle provided on the neck of the flask. When squeezing in this fashion by the pumping grip there is the possibility of controlling the quantity of the outflow at pleasure.

The side appearance of the container is striking and distinctive while the plan or frontal view may be changed as seen in FIGS. 1 and 2. The grip is partially filled with the liquid in the flask but has an air space above so that pressing by hand, gives rise to deformation of the grip which alone is suflicient to increase the pressure inside the flask.

Having thus disclosed the invention what is claimed is:

A one-piece molded resilient plastic container for storing and dispensing liquid products comprising a hollow body portion, a constricted neck for a nozzle at the upper end of said hollow body portion for dispensing the liquid products in said container, a hollow hand gripping portion at a side of said hollow body portion which defines, between its inner surface and the adjacent surface of said body portion, a space through which the fingers of the hand will embrace the sides of said gripping portion, said hollow hand gripping portion lying below said nozzle and neck portion and also below the lower end of a common straight wall of said container, said common straight wall merging with the upper end of the hand gripping portion at the lower end of the wall and merging with the constricted neck at the upper end of said Wall, said neck having an axis within said body portion and extending substantially parallel with said wall, one end of said hollow hand gripping portion being in fluid communication with an upper portion of said hollow body portion and the other end being in fluid communication with the lowermost portion of said hollow body portion whereby liquid may pass freely into and out of said hand gripping portion, said hand gripping portion having an inner surface which is formed with smoothly flowing indented portions to conform to the fingers of the hand, and attached to said container is a single dispensing nozzle at the uppermost end of said constricted neck, whereby upon squeezing said hand gripping portion and tilting the container, liquid is dispensed from said nozzle under hydrostatic pressure by said squeezing action.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 46,535 Chapman Feb. 21, 1865 56,991 Robbins Aug. 7, 1866 69,485 Robbins Oct. 1, 1867 2,610,490 Tupper Sept. 16, 1952 2,978,131 Garvey Apr. 4, 1961 3,054,535 Clarey Sept. 18, 1962 FOREIGN PATENTS 560,104 Belgium Sept. 14, 1957 

